Guatemala permanent residence

After five years of temporary residence (article 27 of the regulation), present a certificate of your migration status record showing the five years, a notarial sworn statement of the activity you carry out with supporting documents, and an updated guarantor certificate, unless your temporary residence was as a minister of religion. Former migrant workers and investors can bring in dependants, with the work permit or the continuation of the investment noted in their record.

Relatives of Guatemalans within the legal degrees show the kinship with birth certificates (article 29). People born in another Central American country can apply after one year of temporary residence with their birth certificate, a sworn statement of their activity and the residence record (article 30). Spouses and partners of Guatemalans qualify after one year of a RENAP-registered marriage or union, and rentistas and pensioners qualify directly; both have their own pages in this guide.

Every permanent residence file includes the application form; the original valid passport and a complete legalised copy whose last entry stamp matches the certificate of migration movements; a birth certificate if your country has no diplomatic mission in Guatemala; an original certificate of no criminal or police record from your country, its embassy or consulate, or where you lived in the two years before entering; the certificate of migration movements; and the payment receipt. For minors, both parents sign a request with legalised signatures and add their own identity and status documents.

Refugees and asylees with temporary residence follow a simpler list: form, identity document, refugee recognition certificate and a Guatemalan criminal record certificate.

Filing a residence application costs USD 25. Permanent residence costs USD 700, or USD 400 for rentistas and pensioners. Permanent residents pay USD 40 a year in foreigners' dues. Registering biometrics more than 30 days after notification costs USD 200. Residence fees are waived for recognised refugees and for child refugee applicants.

Permanent residents may stay indefinitely, leave and re-enter without limit, carry out lawful activities, obtain the DPI for domiciled foreigners, buy property, open bank accounts, establish legal domicile, request authorisation to be absent for more than a year without cancelling the status, and apply for nationality. They must update their data and pay the USD 40 dues every year, and present a migration status certificate at border posts.